Losing Faith in Humanity

Do you ever feel as though you were in the right place at the right time? Many times the saying comes as the opposite, being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I think that we are too often consumed with that way of thinking and that mind set.

I chaperoned an 8th grade field trip yesterday to the Biltmore House in Asheville, NC for Brian's class. As we were leaving, my phone came alive with news alerts notifying me of the shooting in Connecticut. It was a moment that I'm not sure that I'll ever forget. After spending the past few hours with students, it's hard to imagine that someone can have enough hatred and rage against the world that they would cause so much pain to people they never knew. I can't fathom the hatred.

I'm currently sitting at the public library on the last row of computers in the upstairs section.Brian is searching for books as I print out a coupon so I can buy a vacuum. Silly, right? Two computers down, a man is sitting and he struck up a conversation with me nearly as soon as I sat down. He's meticulously typing gospel songs that he has written. He let me read some of them, and they are absolutely beautiful. The words may not be spelled perfectly, but it's his attitude about doing something that he loves that is so inspiring to me. He asked me if I could sing. When I told him that I could, but not well, he told me that he bet I could sing like an angel. Sometimes I truly believe that we are in the right place at the right time. For me, today was one of those times.

With the recent crimes of hate that have plagued our nation and our world, I have to admit that there are times that I lose faith in humanity. I think that it's too easy to be negative when we are constantly subjected to the hate and despair that plagues parts of the world every day. Sitting today and having a lovely conversation with this man so full of love and passion was so refreshing, and it really did make me rethink my negative view of our world.

"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty." Mahatma Gandhi 

I believe that I was in the right place at the right time so that I could have a better sense of faith in humanity. There's never an easy way to deal with sadness. The anger and grief that the parents, friends, family, siblings, teachers, and responders are feeling doesn't come close to anything that I can even begin to comprehend. While I was waiting for my car to be serviced today, I was seated in the waiting room with a young woman and her two daughters. The television was playing a press conference from Connecticut, and the mother transitioned from watching her young children to watching the television. It was evident that her children were close to the ages of those beautiful kindergarten and first graders who lost their lives yesterday. The pain and grief on her face was evident. She kept shaking her head while watching the news cast. Her grief was not only for those children whose lives were lost, but for the parents who, like herself, loved their children and are forced to deal with this loss.

Many people have been moved to make statements about gun control laws and their belief over the "guns don't kill people, people kill people." Even though I have an opinion, I have also realized that this isn't about gun control. Right now, this is about the innocent lives that were lost. Maybe there will come a time where the topic of gun control is discussed in relation to this shooting, but that time is not now, not yet.

As we all move on with our daily lives as normal the next few days, I hope we all take a moment to reflect on the tragedy that unfolded in Connecticut. As the girl friend of a teacher, I can't imagine facing the news that these friends and family members received. Religious or not, please keep a kind thought in your heart for these families. It is so easy to lose faith in humanity and goodness. Please always do your best to be the one of the few reasons that people cling to hope of goodness. I think that we all, myself included, have simply proclaimed our distain for this man whose actions shed the blood of so many innocent victims. However, we must all remember that, as we pray for his victims, we must pray for his family as well.

"But who prays for Satan? Who, in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most?" Mark Twain